The Menteri Besar delivering his speech at the Perak State Level World Water Day 2021 Celebration.

IPOH, 22 March 2021 - The Perak State Government is committed to being a leader in resource and environmental sustainability by creating a holistic plan to promote the "Perak Bumi Lestari" agenda.

Menteri Besar Dato' Saarani Mohamad said the agenda will be the backbone in the process of formulating various forms of development by taking proactive measures to conserve the environment, including rivers.

“The state government has allocated RM5.7 million in the Perak Budget 2021, specifically for river conservation activities as a sign of the state government's responsibility of caring for the rivers.

"To support the initiative of the Environment and Water Ministry to clean up river trails, we will hold the Perak River Trail Gotong Royong Perdana Programme in all 12 Districts on 27 March simultaneously with the national River Trail Day," he said.

He said this in his opening speech at the Perak State Level World Water Day 2021Celebration at Hotel Casuarina here today.

Also present were Environment and Water Minister Dato' Sri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, State Secretary Dato' Ahmad Suaidi Abdul Rahim, State Legal Adviser Azmir Shah Zainal Abidin and Perak State Executive Council members.

Dato' Saarani added that he hoped to see all parties, especially the federal government, state government and all departments and agencies directly involved in water resources management, work together in ensuring the management implementation can be carried out thoroughly and effectively.

 "I would like to take this opportunity to call on all stakeholders to focus and take continuous action to ensure that the state's water resources management is implemented sustainably to support the state's economic development agenda and wellbeing of the people," he said.

According to a report from the Department of Environment (DOE), Perak is one of the states with the highest percentage of clean rivers in Malaysia.

The number of clean rivers in Perak has increased every year with 55 rivers in 2020, which recorded a range of 81 to 100 for the Water Quality Index, and based on the Environmental Quality Report 2019, Sungai Tapah is the cleanest river in Malaysia compared to 672 rivers monitored by DOE under the Environmental Quality Monitoring Programme (EQMP) in Malaysia.

Source : Corporate, SUK Perak.